Puppy Appeal

Stephen sits behind a desk, addressing the camera.
There is an exceptionally cute puppy in his arms,
probably a golden labrador.

Stephen
This puppy, Snipper, is in most desperate need
of help. Four months ago Snipper's mother died,
and only three days later her father was killed
by a hit-and-run driver, Barely five months old
and an orphan, Snipper was also faced with the
embarrassing and painful affliction of incontinence.
It's a condition that we in the West don't talk
much about: shame keeps millions of sufferers
silent, but Snipper's incontinence was a source
of great distress to her and rather than come to
terms with it, she ran away, to London. It was
on the way to London that Snipper was assaulted
and abused by an older dog. You can imagine the
effect this would have on an innocent puppy bitch
like Snipper. She was totally confused, bewildered
and hurt. We think that it is around that time that
she was struck with traumatic amnesia, a total
loss of memory. This, apart from anything else,
made it very difficult for her to know where she
was and what she was doing. She drifted into a
life of scavenging and prostitution, selling her soft,
furry young body just in order to stay alive. That
was the life that she was living when we at the ASTL
found her. We were able to give her food, warmth,
and more than that - love, the one thing that
has been denied her in her short and tragically
unhappy life.

Snipper is taking an interest in life now. Her
memory is slowly returning, which is how we've
been able to piece together the details of her life,
and with luck she will be able to lead a normal,
happy and fulfilled life. But there are thousands
of Snippers in Britain and we desperately need
your help to carry on the work we are doing. We
are an entirely independent charity, we receive no
government funding and rely on public generosity
to keep us going. If you're the kind of person who
would like to help a Snipper then please send your
donation, however large, to me, Stephen Fry, care
of the BBC, instead.

Vox Pop

Stephen
So I told them to stuff it.
But they said it had been dead
too long.